Problem Behavior in My
Classroom: What Can I Do?
Behavior Support in Early Childhood
Lena Stearns
Idaho AEYC 2015 Fall Conference
9/12/15
Introductions
Lena Stearns:
Clinical Supervisor, Ready-Set-Go
Developmental Preschool: 29 years
teaching preschoolers with autism and
other developmental delays, working
with preschool teachers on implementing
positive behavior support within their
classrooms, and teaching parents to
appropriately support their child’s behavior.
Goals of Session
• Improved understanding of social
emotional development at the early
childhood level.
• Develop knowledge of the problems
occurring when children have not
learned appropriate social emotional
skills.
• Learn how to implement a classroom
positive behavior system and teach the
social emotional skills necessary for
your students to maintain appropriate
behavior.
What is Social
Emotional
Development?
My Definition
An increase in the
ability to use a variety
of skills necessary for
success in interacting
with others.
What skills do
preschoolers
need to be
successful
interacting with
others?
Essential Social Skills
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Getting along with others
Following directions
Identifying and regulating one’s emotions
and behavior
Thinking of appropriate solutions to conflict
Persisting on task
Engaging in social conversation and
cooperative play
Correctly interpreting other’s behavior
and emotions
Feeling good about oneself and others
www.challengingbehavior.org
What do children
do when they don’t
have each of these
skills?
How do adults
generally react
to a child who
displays these
behaviors?
Why do you
believe problem
behaviors in
preschool are an
issue?
Challenging Behavior in
Young Children
Young children with challenging
behavior are more likely to experience
• Early and persistent peer rejection,
• Mostly punitive contacts with teachers,
• Family interaction patterns that are
unpleasant
• School failure
(Center for Evidence-Based Practice: Young Children with Challenging Behavior, 2003)
Challenging behaviors during
the preschool years constitute
one of the strongest predictors
of later, more serious problem
behaviors including delinquency,
aggression, antisocial behavior,
and substance abuse.
(National Institute for Early Education Research)
The ability to regulate emotions
in preschool and elementary
school predicts classroom
productivity and academic
scores in literacy and math,
even after controlling for IQ
and family background.
http://nieer.org/resources/policyreports/report7.pdf;,2005
Kindergarten teachers say that
about 20 percent of children entering
kindergarten do not yet have the
necessary social and emotional
skills to be “ready” for school.
http://nieer.org/resources/policyreports/report7.pdf;2005
“Preschoolers were expelled at
three times the rate of students in
K-12 settings. Such a process,
though, was rarely called
"expulsion" by school personnel.
Instead, families were often just
told that a preschool was not the
right fit and that they should look
elsewhere.”
(Education Week, 33, 27;6)
Why Do Preschoolers
Misbehave?
• Problem behavior is generally an
attempt to communicate. It could
be anything from “I’m sad”, “I’m
bored”, or “I want some attention”.
• Problem behavior is what a child
does when they don’t have the
social or communication skills they
need for more appropriate
interactions.
• Behavior that continues over time
is usually working for the child.
What Can I do?
Step #1: Prevention:
• Evidence based practices
• High quality supportive
environment
• Nurturing and responsive
environment
– Consistent positive
acknowledgement/Classroom system
– Precorrections
Definition of Praise
verb \ˈprāz\
: express warm approval or admiration of
Synonyms:
commend, express admiration for,
applaud, pay tribute to, speak highly of,
eulogize, compliment, congratulate, sing
the praises of, rave about, go into
raptures about, heap praise on, wax
lyrical about, make much of, pat on the
back, take one’s hat off to, lionize,
admire, hail, ballyhoo; formal, laud.
Antonyms:
knock, pan, slam
Definition of Encourage
verb en·cour·age \in-ˈkər-ij, -ˈkə-rij, en-\
: to make (someone) more determined,
hopeful, or confident
: to make (something) more appealing or more
likely to happen
: to make (someone) more likely to
do something
: to tell or advise (someone)to do something
Synonyms:
bear up, buck up, buoy (up), cheer (up), chirk
(up), embolden, hearten, inspire, inspirit, steel
Antonyms:
daunt, discourage, dishearten, dispirit
Why Encourage Rather
Than Praise
• Fosters continual growth and effort.
• Does not create comparison or competition about who is
smarter, prettier, faster, etc.
• Fosters independence
• Emphasizes effort, progress, and improvement rather
than results.
• Recognizes contribution rather than completion or quality
over quantity.
• Promotes perseverance rather than giving up
• Allows children to learn about, rather than measure,
themselves.
• Prepares children for real-world challenges where they
will be expected to do much more than show up to earn
recognition.
• Doesn't build false self-esteem; instead builds
determination and confidence.
www.brighthorizons.com/family-resources
Praise
Encourage
You look so beautiful!
That’s a cool combination of
patterns you chose to wear today!
Great job!
You really worked hard on that and
it shows!
Wow, you’re smart!
I can tell you’re working hard on
reading because you can read
more words!
What a pretty picture!
.
You used a lot of different colors on
your picture!
You’re the strongest kid I know!
That was the first time you’ve made
it across the monkey bars by
yourself!
You are so organized!
The way you organized the toy
bins makes it easier to find
everything!
I am so proud of you!
You look so proud of yourself! You
proved you can do it!
Principles of Using
Encouragement
•
•
•
•
Attend to appropriate behavior
Be descriptive
Be enthusiastic
Base on effort rather than
outcome
Remember, children know when you
are not sincere.
Ensuring Positive
Feedback
• Monitor adult behavior to
ensure that we are using
much more positive descriptive
language than directions
or corrections. (Should be at
least 4:1).
• Create a classroom
acknowledgement system.
Classroom
Acknowledgement System
• Allows teachers to track how often
they are acknowledging children’s
appropriate behaviors.
• Provides a visual reminder of
classroom expectations and class
goals.
• Encourages teamwork.
• Goals do not need to be major, time
consuming, or expensive. It just
needs to be meaningful enough that
the children will work toward it.
Important Aspects of
an Acknowledgement
System
•
•
•
•
Preparation of Materials
Preparation of Reinforcers
Preparation of Students
Plans for fading
Acknowledgement
Systems
Pre-corrections
• Pre-corrections are procedures that
are used prior to an anticipated situation
where students are likely to make
learning or behavioral errors.
• Pre-corrections are designed to increase
the likelihood that students perform
the desired learning or behavioral
response without making the
anticipated error.
Muscott (2007)
To Use a Pre-correction
• Identify the Context and
Predictable Problem Behavior
• Define Expected Behaviors
• Conduct Behavior Rehearsals
• Provide Strong Reinforcement
for Expected Behaviors
• Prompt Expected Behaviors
• Monitor the Plan/Fade
Prompts
What Can I do?
Step #2: Teaching
• Direct Instruction
• Incidental Teaching
• Providing Supports for
Appropriate Behavior
• Providing Consistent and
Appropriate Consequences for
Problem Behavior
Direct Instruction:
Emotions
• Teach feeling words: both
positive and negative
• Teach faces, body language,
and tone of voice attached to
feelings
• Teach, using examples, when
each emotion may occur and
how we can appropriately deal
with it.
• Make it fun!
Ideas for Direct
Instruction
Adult Modeling-Modeling
with Puppets/DollsPhotos-Children’s ActingSongs-FingerplaysFlannel Board ActivitiesGames- Children’s
Literature-Social StoriesArt Projects-Plus...
http://challengingbehavior.fmhi.usf.edu/do/resources/teaching_tools/
Direct Instruction:
Self-Calming
• Turtle Technique
• Exercise, like running around, jumping up and
down
• Counting to ten
• Taking deep breaths
• Going to a quiet place
• Imagining a favorite place
• Squeezing hands and arms, then releasing
• Getting away from the person/people with whom
we're angry
• "Putting your brakes on" – child holds or pushes
his hands together to keep them from hitting
someone or breaking something.
http://challengingbehavior.fmhi.usf.edu/do/resources/teaching_tools/
Direct Instruction:
Conflict Resolution
• What is the problem?
• What are our
options?
• Choose an option
• Follow through
http://challengingbehavior.fmhi.usf.edu/do/resources/teaching_tools/
Possible Solutions
Get a Teacher-Ask NicelyIgnore-Play-Say, “Please Stop.”Say, “Please.”-Tell Them What
You Would Like Them to DoShare-Trade Toys/Item-WaitTake Turns-Find Another OneWhat Else Would Work?
Stages of Learning
• Acquisition: Learning the
selected new skill
• Fluency: Using the selected
skill faster or better
• Maintenance: Using the
selected skill routinely
• Generalization: Using the
selected skill in different places
whenever it is needed
http://www.projectidealonline.org/v/teaching-appropriate-behavior/
Identifying Teachable
Moments
Generalization Strategies
BEFORE/DURING
• Modifying Setting Factors
• Seating arrangements, location of materials, #
of children or materials, supervision, etc.
• Proximity
• Prompts/Cues
• Visual prompts can also be used to remind
staff and students of specific
routines/expectations
• Verbal Feedback
AFTER
• Reinforcers
• Review Often
“If a child doesn’t know how to read, we teach”
“If a child doesn’t know how to swim, we teach”
“If a child doesn’t know how to multiply, we teach”
“If a child doesn’t know how to drive, we teach”
“If a child doesn’t know how to behave, we…….
teach?……….punish?”
“Why can’t we finish the last sentence as
automatically as we do the others?”
(Tom Herner (NASDE President)
Counterpoint, 1998, p. 2)
Consistent
Consequences
• Decide in advance the
consequences for broken rules
• Attend to the intent of behavior and
assure the consequence does not
match the intent
• Use natural consequences when
possible
• State the consequences and give
the rationale when you teach
students the rules
• Follow through consistently (do
not use “threats”)
Teaching Pyramid
Children with persistent
challenges (~5%)
Children At-Risk
(~15%)
All Children
(~80%)
(Csefel.vanderbilt.edu)
Tertiary Prevention
(Intensive, Tier Three)
Secondary Prevention
(Targeted, Tier Two)
Primary Prevention
(Universal, Tier One)
Recap
• The first and most important thing we can do to
reduce problem behavior in our classroom is to
assure that our students are getting positive
acknowledgement for appropriate behavior and
are not gaining attention for inappropriate
behaviors.
• Another way to prevent problem behaviors is to
use pre-correction.
• We must directly teach children the skills
necessary to replace their problem behavior and
then work to generalize their use.
• Each child will move through several stages of
learning before their new skills will be thoroughly
known, so incidental teaching for generalization
is key to success.
• Though consequences are the last thing to focus
on (prevention and teaching come first), you
must consistently apply consequences.
Questions or
Comments?
Resources
• Center for Evidence-Based
Practice: Young Children with
Challenging Behavior
• www.challengingbehavior.org.fmhi.us
f.edu/
• Center on the Social and
Emotional Foundations for Early
Learning
• www.vanderbilt.edu/csefel
For Children with More
Intense Needs
• Heineman, M., Childs, K., & Sergay,
J. (2006). Parenting with positive
behavior support. Baltimore,
Maryland: Paul H. Brookes.
• Stormont, M., Lewis, T. J., Beckner,
R., & Johnson, N. W. (2008).
Implementing positive behavior
support systems in early childhood
and elementary settings. Thousand
Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.